1Blessed Natural Mag

1BlessedNatural- New Video: "My Natural Hair Wash Routine"  Hey, my blessed naturals, I hope you all are having a great morning! When I first went natural, I remember having some questions about washing  natural hair. As a result, I have just uploaded a new video on my YouTube channel showing you how I wash mine. If you watched my last video, then you know I recorded the new video (at first) before realizing I wasn't completely in front of the camera, lol. Well, thank God for do overs! You can view the video below. Please don't forget to comment, rate, and subscribe if you like (smile). Do you have questions about washing your natural hair? Don't forget to enter the 1 BlessedNatural Subscriber Appreciation Giveaway ! Related Articles: Natural Hair Product Review: Gold 'N Hot Conditioning  Heat Cap                       ...

Zendaya Responds to Giuliana Rancic's Second Apology, and India. Arie Pens Open Letter (photo courtesy of Flickr- Viva Vivianista under CC BY 2.0 and Instagram ) Today, Zendaya Coleman released her response on social media to Giuliana Rancic's heartfelt video apology that aired yesterday. Giuliana's video apology was in addition to the one on Twitter . The host stated that she did not intend to offend anyone, but realizes that it is not about her intent; it is about the result. Rancic said she learned it is important not to perpetuate stereotypes. She said, "...this incident has taught me to be a lot more aware of cliches and stereotypes and how much damage they can do. Rancic continued by saying, "...I am responsible (as we all are) to not perpetuate them further." In her response, Zendaya Coleman made the point that prejudices are often hidden, but affect our actions. She said, "The hidden prejudices is often influential in our action...

Zendaya Shuts Down Giuliana Rancic's Ignorant Hair Comments with Intelligent and Classy Response (photo courtesy of Flickr- Viva Vivianista under CC BY 2.0 and Instagram ) Last Sunday, actress Zendaya appeared on the Oscars red carpet in an elegant Vivienne Westwood gown and faux dreadlocks. Her hairstyle was inspired by actress Lisa Bonet. Giuliana Rancic, host of the E!'s Fashion Police commented that she felt Zendaya's hairstyle was overwhelming to her frame. She also said, "I feel like she smells like patchouli oil...or weed." Rancic's ignorant and racist comments have been shut down by people on social media. But, Zendaya's social media response is by far the best, most classy and intelligent response anyone could give. In a screenshot of black letters against a white background, Zendaya wrote this: I found Zendaya's response to Rancic's ignorant and racist comments to be refreshing. The young actress identified the stereotyp...

1BlessedNatural- Black History Month: Jennifer Hudson in "Nighthawks" Inspired Commercial This week, I saw Jennifer Hudson in American Family Insurance's #DreamFearlessly commercial. It originally aired during the Super Bowl, but I missed it. The thing that I found super cool about the commercial was that it was based on the "Nighthawks" painting by Edward Hopper. The painting features 3 people sitting at a counter inside of an eatery. There is a couple sitting on the left side and a mysterious man with his back facing the front left side of the painting... Read More on  The Motley News Related Articles: Jennifer Hudson Rocks New Pixie Cut                             Black History Month: Dominique Dawes

House of Dies Drear (photo courtesy of Flickr- Shavar Ross.com by CC BY-SA 2.0 ) Yes, it is Black History Month! This is the time where we as African-Americans reflect on our history. This is the time where many television networks like to show Black programming. More often than not, those programs include slavery movies. It never fails! I sit down on my couch and decide to start watching one of them. After watching the movie for a short period of time, I'm angry! I'm angry at the injustices done to my people, but that's only part of it. My anger also originates from the fact that it seems like there is a special place in Hollywood for the next slavery movie. We watch year after year when slavery movies emerge on the scene (not just during Black History Month), and they are awarded and talked about until the next one comes out. We as Black people have more experiences to our history than slavery. What about Black inventors? Why is it that we do not see mo...

The 1BlessedNatural Subscriber Appreciation Giveaway! Hey, my blessed naturals! It is giveaway time again! What am I celebrating? I am celebrating a lot of things! The 23rd of this month will be my 4 year anniversary of blogging about my natural hair. March 3, 2015 will be my 4 year natural hair anniversary. I am extremely thankful for all of you who have been hanging in there with me on my natural hair journey and beyond! Thank you. The prizes are as follows: The Grand Prize Winner will receive the 1BlessedNatural Grand Prize Pack that includes   (1) white gift Bible (1) "No Weapon Formed Against Me Shall Prosper" journal (1) tube of fabric bands (1) cream wide-tooth comb (1) bottle of One 'n Only Argan Oil Curl Cream (1) set of lashes The Runner-Up will receive  (1)   1BlessedNatural John 3:16 t-shirt The contest will began today and end on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 . The winner will be announced Sunday, March 8, 2015 . Please be s...

1BlessedNatural| Black History Month: Diahann Carroll in Julia Award-winning actress and singer, Diahann Carroll starred in the 1968 NBC television show Julia . She was the first African-American actress to star in a show where she did not play a servant. The show was about a widowed mother who worked as a nurse to support herself and her son "Corey." The premise of the show was unheard of and Carroll received negative feedback about it. She was hospitalized for a short time due to stress. In the beginning, Carroll faced much criticism because she was an African-American woman. In a 2009 interview by the " National Leadership Visionary Project ", the actress says that African-American men were less likely to get roles (at that time) than African-American women, because they were seen as a threat. She said, "The objection was that the female was always given the opportunity. That the black male causes a kind of fear running through the working white h...

1BlessedNatural: 6 Natural Hair Topic: Tips to Remember When Trimming Natural Hair Hey, my blessed naturals, I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day weekend! Today, my sister C had a little natural hair accident--I think. Although she usually wears protective styles, her ends were still a bit raggedy and needed to be trimmed. She decided to use kitchen shears to trim them off, and Thank God, I caught her! She was pulling down on a section of hair in the front of her head, ready to cut. I gave her my hair shears to use. She ended up unnecessarily cutting 2 inches or more in front of her head and was ready to do her whole head the same way. Let's just say that now she has a bang, LOL. Here are some tips to remember when trimming your natural hair: 1. Use sharp hair shears or scissors. Regular scissors or the ones in your kitchen are not sharp enough to use on your natural hair. They can leave your ends jagged and cause them to split even more. 2. Trim yo...

1BlessedNatural: India.Arie Goes Back to Her Afro (photo courtesy of Instagram ) One of my favorite singers, India.Arie is back to rocking her 'fro! Today, she posted a picture of her big and beautiful hair on Instagram. In her caption, she wrote, " Hair! #songsinthekeyoflife television special ..." The singer is currently on the Songs in the Key of Life tour with Stevie Wonder. Over the years, India.Arie has cut off all of her hair and let it grow back several times. B ack in 2013, we saw her rocking twist extensions with the sides and back of her head shaved off, and she eventually cut off all of her hair. Last summer, she posted pictures on her Instagram page of her kinky twist extensions with the following caption: g ot my hair braided! My natural hair is SO short! Only a creative genius like my mom could figure this out WITH out pulling my hair too tight. Took 20 hrs. And she stopped everything and did it -- for free ... The singer has been we...

1BlessedNatural: Teyonah Parris' Fierce Natural Hair Updo at the NAACP Image Awards! (photo courtesy of Facebook ) Did anyone see Teyonah Parris' updo at this years NAACP Image Awards? (raises hand!). The actress wore a backwards French braid, frohawk updo to the 46th Annual Image Awards held on Friday, February 9th. I love this style on her! She wore a simila r updo to the 2013 Screen Actors Guild Awards. Parris was among a handful of actresses who wore natural hairstyles to this years Image Awards including Tracee Ellis Ross ( Girlfriends and Blackish), Ava DuVernay ( Selma director) and Yara Shahidi ( Blackish ). Aside from acting and directing, Parris is known for rocking her natural hair in fierce styles both on and off the red carpet. Teyonah Parris' two-strand twist bun (photo courtesy of Facebook ) 1BlessedNatural: a closer look at Teyonah Parris' 2015 Image Awards updo (photo courtesy of Facebook ) What do you think of Teyonah P...

Hey, my blessed naturals, So, the day has finally come where my web address matches me (smile)!  For the last 3 1/2+ years, my blog address has been kinkycurlyyounglady.blogspot[dot].com. It is now 1blessednatural.com! If you go to the old address, 1blessednatural.com will still appear in your address bar. Same content, but different site! I had some technical issues in the beginning... Some of you might've seen a redirect message when you went to the previous address for the past 2 days, but that's been resolved. Thank you for hanging in there with me! If you are thinking about switching your domain, I would suggest doing some research first. It is not as easy as it may seem. If your settings are not correct, you will have some problems. Believe me, I know from experience. If you chose to use Google Domains and run into issues, contact their tech support. The link is located on the bottom right of their website. I was able to chat with a representative online. The...

      1BlessedNatural: Useful Natural Hair Tips Our Parents Gave Us (photo courtesy of Flickr- Rod Waddington under the CC by-SA 2.0 ) The natural hair movement might have taught us naturals a few new things, but there are some useful tips that our parents/caregivers gave us early. When I was a kid, my grandmother/mother gave me some natural hair tips that are still useful to me today. They include the following: 1. Don't play in your hair: This is true for me and a lot of other naturals. When I over manipulate my hair, it can get damaged and start to break off. 2. Use a wide-tooth comb: Although I sometimes use a fine tooth comb to detangle my hair, I use wide-tooth combs the most. 3. Check the bristles of the brush: My grandmother was huge on checking the bristles of the brush to be sure they weren't too harsh on my hair. To this day, I am very careful with the use of brushes. The only brush I use is the Gabriela brush (Denman brush knock-of...

1BlessedNatural: Bantu-knot out done on dry hair Happy Thursday, my blessed naturals! If you are looking for a fluffier and fuller twist-out, you may want to try twisting on dry hair. My twist and Bantu knot outs come out better when I do them on dry re-twisted or braided dry hair, but I have to apply a water based moisturizer and oil before twisting. If I do not use a moisturizer, my twist-out comes out with less definition because it doesn't set. Wet twist-outs give me a lot of definition, but my hair is less fuller. As a result, I have to fluff it out a lot.  1BlessedNatural: twist-out done on braid-out hair ( style ) Do you like your twist-outs better when they are done on wet hair, dry hair, or both? #naturalhairblog Related Articles: Twist-Out on Braid-Out Hairstyle                             Chunky Flat ...

1BlessedNatural: Wearing Your Natural Hair in the Workplace and to Job Interviews (photo courtesy of Flickr- (cropped) HelenSTB CC by-SA 2.0 license) Happy Tuesday, my blessed naturals, In a previous article, many of you discussed whether your natural hair should be straightened for a job interview. At the time the article was written, I'd just done my big chop a few months prior, and I was curious to see how many people would rock an afro to a job interview. Now that my natural hair is long enough to do other styles, I have been able to better test the idea of natural hair in the workplace and on job interviews. For me, the answer is no! You do not have to straighten your hair for a job interview. For the last 5 years, I 've worked in school administration, and I'm happy to say that I've been able to wear my hair in any style I prefer, as long as it's neat. I've worn puffs, afros, cornrows, flat twists, etc. My workplace styles include most of...

1BlessedNatural- Fine Natural Hair: Single Strand Knots, Mini Twists, and Trimming My Ends Happy Monday, my blessed naturals! If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram , then you might know that I spent Super Bowl Sunday doing mini two-strand twists yesterday. I installed the twists because my ends needed a trim badly. Although I didn't have many split ends, I had a lot of single strand knots (SSKs) and straight ends. Because my strands are fine, curly, and longer, they're starting to tangle a lot more. When my hair sheds, the shed hair tangles around my healthy strands. My hair has always sledded a lot, even when I was a child. If I try to pull the shed hair out of my hair by finger detangling, the hair pulls and snaps my healthy strands, resulting in straight ends. As a result, I have to use a comb for detangling at least one time during the week, other than wash day. The last trimming of my ends was in October 2014 . This time, I didn't have to cut off...